Lotteries currently generate over $30 billion in ticket sales in the US alone. Thirty-eight states in the US offer at least one government-sponsored lottery, with much of the profits going to augment the state tax base, for example by funding state educational systems.
In a typical operation, a lottery is operated by a central authority with a government-licensed sponsor providing much of the equipment and support necessary to establish, market, and run the operation. Such a central authority typically maintain, one or more centralized operations for receiving and processing lottery entries, the entries themselves being sold at remote authorized lottery outlets or terminals.
A purchase of a lottery ticket typically requires a visit to one of the authorized lottery outlets, where the process varies depending on the type of game to be played. Commonly known games include `instant` tickets, or `scratch` tickets, where the winning status is apparent on the face of the ticket, and `Lotto` games where the player picks or otherwise receives a set of entry numbers, the status of the numbers determined by a match with numbers selected in a subsequent lottery drawing. The present invention has particular application to Lotto style lotteries, which will be discussed in detail herein.
In a Lotto game, a player selects one or more numbers, the exact format, quantity and ordinal value range of the numbers being dependent on the type of game. In a "6/49" game, for example, six numbers are selected, each in the range from one to forty-nine. The numbers may be selected individually by the purchaser. Alternatively, many lottery authorities offer a `quick-pick` option whereby, upon request by the purchaser, a random number generator controlled by the lottery authority is used to select the entry numbers. In either case, the actual ticket request is typically made through the completion of a `sense mark form,` or `bet slip,` which is a machine-readable paper form having check boxes that are filled in by the purchaser and read by the lottery terminal. For a further description of "Lotto" style lottery games, including the 6/49 game, reference is made to Dr. Z's 6/49 Lotto Guidebook, by Ziemba, Dr. William T., et al., published 1986 by Dr. Z Investments, Inc., ISBN 0-9690097-2-2, incorporated herein by reference.
The ticket purchase information is read by the local lottery terminal and transmitted to the central lottery authority. The central authority processes the ticket request by storing the selected lottery numbers, and assigning a ticket identifier. An appropriate ticket is printed at the terminal and sold to the player. The ticket is kept by the player as validation of an entry in a lottery drawing, which is typically held once or twice per week.
A lottery ticket is typically good for one lottery drawing. Thus, each entry in a lottery normally requires a trip to a lottery terminal to purchase a ticket.
Recently, limited options have been made available whereby lottery tickets may be purchased without visits to a lottery agent. To increase ticket sales, as well as for customer-convenience, some lotteries now offer subscription sales of lottery tickets. With a subscription ticket, lottery entries are automatically re-entered into drawings for a predefined number of weeks. Such subscription tickets are often made available at a discounted price. The Vermont State Lottery, for example, offers multiple drawing "contracts," or a subscription, whereby a player can enter selected numbers in multiple drawings. While a lottery subscription is more convenient, there is no guarantee that the player will win any prize.
In most lotteries, a jackpot that is not won by a player in a drawing is "rolled over" into the next drawing. In fact, the value of the jackpot is usually progressive, in that it increases each time a winner does not result from a drawing. While the lottery jackpot remains progressive, however, each ticket is typically only valid for a single drawing. Even with subscription purchases, the subscription or contract represents a virtual series of tickets, each good for a predetermined drawing. Despite the fact that the purchase of a ticket is not required for every single drawing in which an entry is required, significant time, energy and planning are still required on the part of a player to purchase lottery tickets, with, of course, no guarantee of a winning return.
One system for enabling lottery players to reuse lottery tickets in subsequent lottery drawings is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,463 to Marin. The Marin patent teaches a system and method by which a lottery player may purchase a lottery entry which is applied to all subsequent drawings in which a jackpot prize is not awarded. Thus, if a jackpot is not awarded for three drawings subsequent to the purchase of the ticket, the ticket is automatically valid and re-entered into each of those drawings. The ticket becomes invalid or expired upon the award of a jackpot, whether that ticket represented a winning selection or not. Thus, the Marin patent relieves at most a small part of the burden of traveling to a lottery agent and waiting on line to purchase lottery tickets.
A number of lottery agencies have adopted the practice of selling lottery tickets that offer bonus prizes in addition to qualifying for prizes associated with a drawing. Still other lottery tickets include promotions offering discounts on products or services if the tickets do not win a drawing-based prize. The Missouri Lottery, for example, offers an instant win ticket having on one side an entry for a lottery prize of up to $1,000 in cash, and on the other side a "bonus spot" providing an opportunity to win one prize from amongst millions of prizes donated by local businesses. Along similar lines, the Pennsylvania Lottery offers a "Cookout Cash" ticket. The "Cookout Cash" ticket is a lotto style ticket which further includes a coupon redeemable for a discounted meal if a prize is not won in a weekly drawing. These programs typically involve promotional advertising by businesses in partnership with a lottery authority. Despite the fact that a purchaser is guaranteed at least a nominal value for each ticket, the tickets are only valid for a single lottery drawing, requiring a player to purchase subsequent tickets to participate in subsequent drawings.
Similar to the state lottery programs described above, private companies have also offered promotional lottery games in which every ticket represents at least a nominal value to the player. Liberty Bank, for example, has offered instant tickets with guaranteed prizes ranging from $0.50 to $100. Similarly, MCA has offered free scratch-and-win cards in which a ticket that does not win through the scratch-off game can be used to obtain a $2 discount on a compact disc at a participating retailer. A further example of a promotional lottery ticket was offered as a benefit for "Art Against Aids," wherein a ticket holder was guaranteed to win one of more than 100 donated art pieces.
While the games described above guarantee a prize for every player, the guaranteed prizes typically represent nominal promotional values. They do not represent the potential to win a significant, drawing-based lottery award, nor are the prizes awarded from the actual lottery prize pool.
Thus, to the best of applicants' knowledge, participation in a lottery drawing has in the past required that a ticket be purchased specifically for that drawing. While some subscription and contract services are now available, whereby entries can be purchased for a series of drawings, the entries are limited to a pre-determined number of drawings, regardless of the results of those drawings. In the instance of Marin, a purchased ticket might have some limited carry-over opportunity if a jackpot is not awarded in a drawing.